This invention relates to battery terminal connecting devices which connect a battery mounted within a motor vehicle to electronic equipment or accessories which are components of, or are otherwise mounted to, the motor vehicle and which are operated from electric power supplied from the battery, or which provide electric power to the battery. More particularly, the present invention relates to a new and improved battery terminal connector for releasably connecting to a battery post a plurality of cables leading to vehicle equipment, and a repair system for a battery terminal connector and an associated electrical cable harness.
The use of battery terminal connectors for electrically connecting a vehicle storage battery to electronic equipment mounted within the vehicle is well known. It is conventional to equip a motor vehicle with at least one storage battery for accumulating electricity and supplying electric power to various equipment and accessories provided with the vehicle, such as, for example, an electric radio broadcast receiver, an electric engine starter, vehicle lights, and the like. The typical vehicle battery includes two battery posts, or terminals, to which cables from various electronic equipment may be connected. As the quantity of equipment needing to be connected to a battery of an automobile has increased, the need for electrically connecting a plurality of cables to said battery has likewise increased. Various battery terminal connectors exist within the prior art that address the need for connecting a plurality of cables to a vehicle battery terminal; however, none of the battery terminal connectors of the prior art effectively solve the problems addressed by the present invention.
Many attempts have been made to address the problems associated with trying to electrically connect a plurality of cables to a vehicle battery terminal. Illustrative of the various types of these connectors are U.S. Pat. No. 3,230,499 (Haegert); U.S. Pat. No. 3,407,382 (Haegert); U.S. Pat. No. 3,407,383 (Haegert); U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,094 (Haegert); U.S. Pat. No. 4,354,726 (Kato et al.), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,178 (Coesfeld et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,178 (Badenhorst); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,169 (Butcher). In Haegert's disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,230,499, 3,307,383, and 3,656,094 is taught the addition of a branch, or laterally extending lug, to the body of a terminal connector for releasably securing an additional cable to the battery terminal. The use of an expansion bolt with extending lug for adding an additional cable to the harness is also taught. Although these devices address the need to connect additional cables to the battery terminal, the number of additional cables which can be added is severely limited. The device of Haegert taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,407,382 is an attempt to address this problem via the use of a multiple shanked bolt threadably attached to a battery terminal connector. Although this teaching addresses the need to electrically connect a larger number of cables to the battery terminal, a vehicle operator using said device has to deal with the added expense of time and material in securing suitable fasteners to the ends of each cable for connecting said cable to the terminal connector. A further difficulty of this device with which vehicle operators must deal when maintaining the cables connected to said terminal connector, is that of having to work in close-quartered proximity to the fixed ends of multiple heavy gauge cables connected adjacent each other to the battery terminal connector. Those familiar with such efforts will recognize the amount of skill and patience necessary in order to deal effectively with each cable, especially while working within the close confines of a modern vehicle engine compartment. Similar concerns are raised with the teaching of Coesfeld et al., m which is disclosed a battery terminal connector having a plurality of bores therethrough for the mounting of a plurality of cables with appropriate fasteners secured to the ends thereof.
The use of special adapters mounted to the ends of cables for connecting to a battery terminal connector is further taught by Kato et al. and Badenhorst. These likewise have the shortcoming and expense of having to provide and mount special adapters to the ends of cables for connecting to the battery terminal. These disclosures also address the difficulty in the handling of a multitude of stiff adjacent vehicle cable ends within the confines of a modem engine compartment, by teaching means for mounting said cables into a single fixture which is then removably connected to a main battery terminal connector. Even though this technique allows for the maintenance of such cable ends outside the confines of the engine compartment (while the terminal connector is disconnected from the battery post), those skilled in the art know that these methods have not eliminated the difficulty of attempting to connect a plurality of cable ends simultaneously to one terminal connector.
Another teaching in the art which includes the connecting of a plurality of cables to one main connector for a battery terminal is by Butcher et al., in which is likewise disclosed an electrical connection system having separate structure for connecting to the battery terminal and separate structure for connecting to a plurality of cables. One of the more significant differences between this teaching and that of Kato and Badenhorst is the use of threaded fasteners which are seated in both components of the terminal connector, and are associated with apertures for receiving bared cable ends. The device taught by Butcher et al. prevents a vehicle operator from having to provide his own cable end fasteners. However, the problem of having to deal with a plurality of cable connections in one space of close-proximity is still present with this teaching, as well as is the additional operator burden of having to locate a special tool for tightening the seated threaded fasteners. The number of cable ends that can be secured within the device of Butcher et al., however, is severely limited, due to the limitation of the number of cable end apertures which can be placed in the body of the terminal connector without affecting the structural integrity of said connector.
Another problem associated with the disclosure of Butcher et al. and previous disclosures is that associated with the length of the cables being connected to said terminal connector. Those skilled in the art will recognize the cable length problem associated with replacing corroded battery terminal connectors: that of having to trim damaged lengths from the cables which are corroded. Unfortunately, the typical vehicle manufacturer does not include in his original equipment specifications concerning said cables sufficient lengths to allow for the reconnecting of said cables to the battery when an amount of damaged length has been removed. It is not difficult to understand how such a business decision can reduce original equipment costs and provide for additional sales of future cable assemblies.
In the more recent past, an additional technique has been used by vehicle manufacturers to overcome the problems associated with connecting a plurality of cables directly to a battery terminal connector, which became even more difficult to address with the advent of the side-post battery terminal. In this alternate method, cables from equipment needing electrical contact with the battery are brought together and formed into a main cable and/or cable harness, which is typically provided with a connector for releasably connecting to the battery post. With the advent of more electrical accessories, most newer motor vehicles have from one to three auxiliary electrical cable leads associated with such cable harnesses in order to power the various equipment needing electrical contact with the battery. Because of the wide variation between different brands and models of motor vehicles, manufacturers have tended to design these cable harnesses specifically for a particular model of vehicle, which tends to increase significantly the expensive associated with maintaining and/or replacing said cable harnesses. As well, due to the large variety of motor vehicles, it is not cost effective for a typical merchant to stock the quantity of such apparatus necessary to service a wide variety of customers, which has further precipitated a high cost of repair for such connector/cable assemblies.
In addition to containing cables of various lengths and gauges to match the specifications of a particular model of motor vehicle, modem battery terminal connectors and cable harnesses have included the addition of multiple fusible links, which are used to divide the larger cables connected directly to the battery terminal connector into smaller cables, and to provide an additional fuse protection system for the vehicle electrical system. Although the idea of reducing the number of cables which are directly connected to a battery terminal connector addresses a common problem associated with battery terminal connectors (that being the difficulty of handling simultaneously a plurality of heavy gauge cables which are connected to a single terminal connector), the addition of fusible links to this assembly has added a substantially weaker section to the electrical cabling system, thereby reducing the useable life of the associated cable harness. The need for a cost effective battery terminal connector and cable harness repair system for a motor vehicle is evident.
It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that although the battery terminal connectors disclosed in the prior art may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention. Perhaps the most significant unsolved problems associated with said prior art include the added maintenance expense of having to provide additional equipment such as cable fasteners (both common and those of a special design) or special cable seating tools, the difficulty of having to connect and work with the connection of a plurality of stiff motor vehicle cables attached to a single device in very close proximity, and the relatively significant expense in time and money associated with the repair and replacement of multi-lead battery terminal connectors and cable harnesses, especially those made inoperable due to excessive corrosion or an electrically broken fusible link. Although the prior art includes many attempts to increase the number of cables electrically connected to a battery terminal and to reduce the expense of maintaining and replacing said cables and battery terminal connectors, none has achieved the purposes of the present invention.